Maintaining a Happy Mind: The Power of Reading - In conversation with Perrin Quarshie
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Due to the prevalence of technology in our daily lives, the different areas of life can overlap and merge. Many people find that their high-performance work life bleeds into their home life, which can lead to exhaustion and cause them to struggle in maintaining both aspects of their lives. Investing time and care in your health — physically, emotionally, and, especially so in this case, mentally — can greatly improve your overall quality of life.
We’re in conversation with Perrin Quarshie, a Body, Mind, and Soul influencer and purpose-driven change maker who distills complex problems into clear, technology-backed solutions. Perrin is an innovative, people-oriented, and successful entrepreneur.
You’re a highly educated, avid reader — an eternal learner. How do you strive to maintain a healthy mind in the midst of all the various challenges of being an entrepreneur?
“Awareness of the intrinsic relationship between body, mind, and soul has helped me look at the big picture of life very differently. Nourishing one aspect helps you nourish the others — taking care of your mind not only prepares you to perform at your best, but helps you find the capacity to take care of your body and soul, which, in turn, helps you holistically improve yourself.
“A mantra that I take with me everywhere is, ‘Always rely on a happy mind, alone,’ said by one of my favorite theologians. To me, maintaining a happy mind means maintaining a peaceful mind — one that can be flexible, both active and restful. I strive to do that through meditation, taking downtime, and reading. My background as an engineer has turned me into quite an avid reader across a wide variety of industries, subjects, and authors, and I’m typically reading one to two personal books and one to two professional books at the same time.
“What I appreciate and enjoy most about reading and its relationship to the mind is that it helps me gain insight into the thinking and actions of others. Being a reader helps me take that insight into my own life. Learning about how people from all walks of life solve issues has inspired me to think differently and I have a greater perspective when it comes to problem-solving — I synthesize the information from both the professional and personal books I’m reading in order to sharpen my mind and improve what we do at RealBlocks.
“At our firm, we strive to create a culture that allows employees to have a happy mind. The goal is an environment in which all of our team members can ‘turn on’ and work with high levels of productivity, as well as ‘turn off’ and find downtime and balance in their lives. Fostering team members’ equilibrium between utilizing their minds to their full potential and downshifting to relax in their time off is key to a healthy workspace.”
Connect with Perrin Quarshie on LinkedIn.
